Floods affect 1.6 mln Cambodians, Oxfam says outlook grim
04 Nov 2011 13:54
A girl squats on her tyre raft in the floodwaters in Phnom Penh October 26, 2011. REUTERS/Samrang Pring
BANGKOK (AlertNet) – Severe floods in impoverished Cambodia have killed 247 people, disrupted the lives of 1.6 million - more than one in 10 people - and affected three-quarters of the country, a United Nations’ report says.
Flooding along the Mekong and other key rivers over the past two months has raised fears of food shortages and increased personal debt after more than 10 percent of the rice crop was destroyed.
This has left thousands of families without an income in a country of 14.7 million where close to 80 percent live in rural areas and 71 percent depend on agriculture (largely rice) and livestock for their livelihood.
“The most immediate humanitarian needs are food, water, sanitation, hygiene and related items and some shelter,” Manish Mehta, Oxfam’s humanitarian programme manager in Cambodia told AlertNet.
Health and nutrition are also a concern, Mehta added, with long-standing floodwaters and congested evacuation centres increasing cases of diarrhoea, skin diseases and upper respiratory diseases.
“In one of the communes where Oxfam is working, one-third of the evacuated people started to complain about diarrhoea and skin disease,” he said.
As flood waters start to recede, it is becoming easier to provide aid and conduct detailed assessments, but this could mean agencies discover more people have been affected than thought.
Already the United Nations said the damages are expected to be more severe than previously estimated.
Aid is coming through although donor interest is still low, Mehta said.
The Asian Development Bank announced $3 million emergency humanitarian assistance on Thursday, the United Nations is mobilising $4 million and a chunk from the European Union’s €10 million flood aid to the region will go to Cambodia.
The U.N. food agency WFP also said on Friday it is more than doubling its response from helping 60,000 of the worst affected people to 150,000.
FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS CONCERNS
“The livelihood options have ceased due to wide scale flooding ... hence farm-based, landless labourers are the most vulnerable,” Mehta said.
While it is still difficult to estimate exactly how long people will need support, Mehta said it would take at least a year for the affected population to recover their livelihoods.
“In the coming year until next harvest, the food security condition for poor Cambodians will remain grim,” he added.
Gavin Tritt of Asia Foundation, which works on governance, law and rights, agreed the floods had had a devastating impact on Cambodia’s most vulnerable communities.
Rural households dependent on agriculture already struggle to get enough food even in the best of times, added Tritt, the foundation’s country representative.
“For these farmers who depend on their annual crop, a year’s supply of rice (for consumption and income generation) has been lost,” he told AlertNet.
“This is likely to lead to increased indebtedness, and certainly increased food insecurity.”
According to U.N. figures, almost a third of Cambodia’s rural population is undernourished.
